deary music

“You could call it folk. Or rock. Or ambience. If you wanted to deny that parts make a whole. It is realer than that! It is love! Yes, love!” as the band Cairo describes themselves as which Mustafa and I totally agree on. They are one of the best, more importantly loveliest folk, rock, and orchestral alt pop bands in Toronto. It won’t take you long to fall in love with them once you see them on the stage; just close your eyes, follow the rhythm. Then BOOM! You are charmed. Officially. When I first saw them at Horseshoe back in 2013, I was hooked by dreamy lyrics, heavenly violin tunes and cottonous vocals of their first EP “Young Love”. And of course as any person in love would do, I took every opportunity to check their gigs whenever, wherever possible; Horseshoe, The Garrison, The Rivoli etc. And then, the day came! They were releasing a new album. As soon as I found out about it, as deary music we got them under the radar because we believe that every band member of Cairo loves making music. The band is formed by Nate Daniels (Vocals/Guitar), Matt Sullivan (Drums/Percussion), Caitlin Grieve (Strings/Vocals), Dante Berardi Jr (Guitar/Vocals/Synth) and Joel Dalton (Bass/Key/Synth) They have been playing in the city since 2011. They make something that it comes in the bottom of their hearts. That was pretty much why they were under our radar and we were pretty curious and excited to hear the new tunes of their new album “A History Of Reasons”. As you would predict, we went to the gig to cover their live performance.

They started the set with the song “A History of Reasons” which has a super cool intro within soft vocals and fragile violin tunes. The song itself tells the story and carries the all the elements of folk, pop and rock. The Rivoli’s perfect lighting and sound system also helped everyone to experience the song in a different level. That was one of the best moments of the night. They continued the set with “With You”, “Age/Sex/Race”, “Kingdoms”, “Render” and “Starry Eyes”. We must say that we loved pretty much all songs but “With You” was one of the our favourites. We were a little bit disappointed the fact that they didn’t play any other songs from the previous EP called “Young Love”. We wish we could listen “Selfish” and “Addict” at that night.

It was a very short but also a very fun set. We had a great grasp of the new album. And it’s enough talk about our good fortune. We have 3 great news for you: First great news is NOW the album is available to purchase. And you can order it online! Second great news is they are going to tour in UK so even if you are not in Toronto anymore or ever been and if you are somewhere close to UK, here is an opportunity to see a lovely Canadian band. That’s pretty sweet, eh? Highly recommended to follow their Facebook page and track their upcoming shows in Toronto and UK. Third great news: We have two videos in the bottom for you to hear their tunes. If you are patient enough to watch a 16 minutes video, you can almost watch the whole concert but if you think you don’t have time – which we can understand – here is a 4 minutes short video from that night. Enjoy and support local music! Cheers! Itir & Mustafa

Don’t you wanna hear some good music with a bit spiced up koto tunes? Yeah, we know you would take it. Let us introduce you Toronto based folk-jazz power trio Jessica Stuart Few.

I clearly remember the first time I saw Jessica Stuart. She was playing Radiohead songs at a bar in Junction. I was really mesmerised the way she was playing the guitar and how she was losing herself in music. Then I decided to do some research about her and discovered her band The Jessica Stuart Few. It took me a while to digest their two albums. First I spent a quite a bit time to understand the stories behind the songs and then bam! I was hooked by the second album.

The Jessica Stuart Few is formed by Jessica Stuart (band leader, vocal, guitar and koto), Liam Smith (double bass, vocals) and Jon Foster (drums, vocals). The band had various different members in the past but Jessica Stuart has been working Liam and Jon for the last few years. We definitely felt their deep musical connection when they were on stage. They are so meant to play together!

We were very excited to cover their show because maybe this is the only band that both of us would listen almost every day. Therefore we reached out to them and they were very happy to feature with us. On the gig day, we arrived to the Central pretty early as usual and settled in close to the stage. In the meantime we grabbed drinks with a couple of musician friends who came to the show and met with the whole band.

The Jessica Stuart Few took the stage around 9 pm and started the set with Two Sides To Every Story which is one of our favourites. I especially love this song’s guitar riffs. They continued with “Lost Friends”, “Only Girl (Rihanna cover)”, “Kid Dream”, “One Day”, “Same Girl”, “How to Ride A Bicycle” and “What Is It For”. We were not expecting to hear a Rihanna cover but it realy didn’t surprise us since they are very innovative musicians and their music does’t fall into a concrete music genre. It includes jazz, rock, folk and a little bit pop e.g: Don’t Ya. That’s why, it is really difficult say who are their influencers but you can find some clues in the interview video.

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Akin to their albums, the show took surprising turns –new songs-, while maintaining beautiful tunes that you wouldn’t forget. We love The Jessica Stuart Few’s candid tunes harmonized with very well written lyrics and we strongly believe that they will definitely take you to your happy place. If you would like to check their music, you can find the videos below – yes, this time we have 3 videos- and you may want to take a look at their lovely blog and Facebook page. They will go for a tour in March, so before they take off, try to catch them in Toronto.

“Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.” George Carlin

Are you ready for dancing? You better be! We’d like to introduce you one of the most entertaining local bands in Toronto. Most People will thrill you with their live performance. I discovered them two years ago at the Holy Oak Cafe.

Unfortunately I can barely remember that night because I was feeling a bit under the weather. After that gig, I had many chances to see their live performances at variant venues like Handle Bar, The Garrison, and Horseshoe Tavern. I probably saw their shows at least 6 times in the past two years that’s why they were one of the first bands that came into my mind when we decided working on the blog. Mustafa really liked their sound as well – yes, he does like dancing – so we thought why we wouldn’t bring their music onto deary music for our dearest followers?

After having agreed on covering their show, we started stalking them on Facebook. The closest gig was on the 7th of September at the Wavelength Festival so we marked our calendars! On the gig day, one of our friends Marvin accompanied us to take our photos and some footage to be used in the teaser video. It was a fantastic ferry trip on a beautiful sunny day. We arrived at the island then figured out how to get to the venue. The festival area was really cool as well as the crowd. It seemed like everyone was having a good time. I was really pumped to dance but we were on a big mission so we immediately settled in for the shooting.

First, we watched an electronic based band, dressed like Daft Punk. They were pretty awesome. After them, Most People took the stage and started the set with “You Said” (on 2012 LP). This song has really cool guitar riffs and makes you feel hyper. Then they continued with “Young and Wild” “Falling Apart” (2014 EP) “Love Don’t Mind” (2014 EP) “No Name Yet” (upcoming ep) “Release” (upcoming ep)

We really liked Falling Apart from new E.P. It may remind you a little bit The Cure but it is quite different. All their songs are cycled through electronic tunes, double-drumming, and harmony-drenched vocals. Most People sounds very 90’s and this is maybe another reason why we really enjoy their music. Their live performance is also really energetic. They dance and jump. They are all over the stage. It is 100% team work and band members Brandon Gibson-DeGroote and Paul McEachern love playing together. We have to say that they jazzed up the crowd even though they had a really short set list!

If you’d like to see their live performance, they are not going to play soon in Toronto but they will be opening for Twin Shadow at the Halifax Pop Explosion on October 21st so if you are in Halifax, check them out. You can also check our video to hear how they sound!

“One-man band. Based on an island.” This is how Aaron Powell defines his band called Fog Lake. The first time that I heard his music was in a friend’s car. After the first 15 seconds I immediately asked my friend whose music it was. He said “Fog Lake-Farther Reaches” and I replied, “This is so lovely!” Thus my journey began with Fog Lake. And I guess it will never end.

I had spent quite a bit time digesting all his albums and started to follow his Facebook page. I mentioned him to Mustafa and he was quite amazed by music as well. We were not sure when we could see him live since he is from St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. In the middle of the summer, he announced that he was going to go on tour in Ontario and Quebec. As soon as we got the good news, we started planning our pre- production. We were really excited to see him in TO because he came all the way to share his humble and naïve tunes.

On the day of the gig, we arrived to the venue -The Cavern- pretty early to set up our equipment and meet with Aaron. We got our permission from him to record the concert and talked a little bit about deary music. Everything was safe and sound. We were ready to go!

Before he took the stage, 3 different bands performed for 2 hours, and then Fog Lake appeared with his guitar and drum. Fog Lake is basically an one man band but from time to time his musician friends perform with him, depending on the show. The sound check was really painful. We could tell it from all the musicians’ eyes. There were several technical problems that nobody was able to fix, but then –probably- they found a way to make it work. The gig had started with Farther Reaches which is one of our favourites. Then continued with “Holy Cross”, “Despondency”, “It Was Never Enough”, “15 Ativan”, “Erik”, “Ambient Interlude”, “Inference (i)”, “Lost Love Letters” and “Space Station”

We personally very much like “It Was Never Enough” –you may realized that we used it on our teaser video- so it was pretty lovely to hear it live. The sound system didn’t make us very happy, but Aaron Powell is a talented and humble musician, and he quickly engaged the audience and recovered the technical problems. The best song of the night was Lost Love Letter, despite the song’s slow tempo. The show ended with Space Station from the last album which is a quite different tune among the other ones.

We had the opportunity to have a chat with Aaron Powell after the show. He shared his future tour plans with us. He hopes to be back in TO next summer or so. If you are curious about his music, you can check our video out. You may also want to take a look at his website http://foglake.bandcamp.com/

I had the opportunity to listen to Maneli Jamal’s incredible music at a friend’s house party. He played for such a small group of people and weaved intricate story after stories with his tunes. Everyone in the room admired him; we could see it in their eyes. After the concert, I had a chance to meet him and learn about his interesting life story…

Maneli Jamal is a Toronto based, Canadian acoustic guitarist but before he moved to Canada, he pretty much travelled the whole world. You will find his interesting stories between the lines of his songs.

We were really excited to watch his show on August 15th 2014 at the Harbourfront Center, but unfortunately we were a little bit late for the show. Mustafa always bikes so it was not a problem for him, but I had to take TTC, so it was a big challenge during rush hour.

We arrived at the venue before he started playing a piece called “Most Glorious Day” which has a quite interesting story. During the show, Maneli told us little anecdotes about his songs. He said, Canada was the first country where he became a citizen and after the court day, he decided to make a song about his experience. “Most Glorious Day” has a beautiful and deep story but we don’t want to mention what it’s about because we’d definitely recommend you to see his live performance.

Then he played Zim Blues, Us Against Them, Ziur, On the Run and Awakening -we are not very sure about the exact order- Us Against Them is one of his greatest songs which carries an interesting story. Maneli and his family used to live in Unites States for about 9 years, and then one day they received a letter from US immigration that asked his family to leave the country in a month. The song definitely makes you feel his sadness and fragility and maybe a little bit anger. Basically, every song has its own story, which makes Maneli is a unique musician because the audience can listen to his beautiful tunes with interesting stories. Maneli was in full storyteller mode, which we saw at the Harbourfront Center once again.

Most of the songs he performed were from his previous albums or his latest album called Lamaj Movement, but there was also a brand new one called Zim Blues. He said he was really inspired during his Zimbabwe tour. This piece particularly sounds pretty different than his other pieces. It is a heavily blues-influenced tune with some percussive use of the guitar. If you would like to hear this song, you can find it on his Youtube channel. It is difficult to write about a talented musician and we have to say Maneli’s live performance is amazing. The way he played and communicated with the audience was fabulous. We did not hear any mistake during the show which is not quite possible during live performances. If you are curious about his music you can check our video out. We highly recommend you to see his show, because he is a great talent!

Since we dearly love jazz music, we’d like to introduce you a very niche Toronto based Canadian jazz quartet called Peripheral Vision. The quartet was founded by guitarist Don Scott and bassist Michael Herring. They have been performing in the Toronto jazz scene since 2008. They call themselves “one of the most exciting and innovative jazz quartets to have recently appeared on the international jazz scene” We totally agree with them since we had the opportunity to see their show at the Tranzac on August 5th 2014. The quartet itself is very dynamic and collaborative.

We discovered The Peripheral Vision through another of Don Scott’s bands Idioteque (Toronto based Radiohead Tribute) We were quite curious about Dan’s other projects and then we found out about The Peripheral Vision through our investigation.

NEW TUNESAT THE TRANZAC

We arrived the venue before the gig and settled in and grabbed our drinks. The audience was formed of musicians. The gig was overall based on new tunes. They played 6 pieces and The Ill Conceived Plan (by Michael Herring) and Patina (by Don Scott) are from their upcoming album called “Sheer Tyranny Of Will” which will be released by September 23rd 2014. We have to say the new pieces included experimental tunes. They took us through the heaven of jazz . The set list was: “Portrait of a Man in a Late 19th Century Frame” (by Michael Herring) – “Syntax Error” (by Don Scott) – “The Blunder” (by Michael Herring) – “Chubby Cello” (by Don Scott) – “The Ill Conceived Plan” (by Michael Herring) and “Patina” (by Don Scott)

We were really excited to hear “Living the Dream “(one of our favourites) but all the tunes they played were brand new. We have to say we were pretty impressed by the pieces called Patina and Syntax Error. You can check the Patina in the upcoming album. The show provided us the good tunes from “Sheer Tyranny Of Will”. We lost ourselves in experimental tunes as well as in jazz melodies.

After the gig, we had the opportunity to have a chat with Don Scott. They are all very excited about the new upcoming album and very happy about how it sounds and looks. The Peripheral Vision is obviously a group of musicians deeply invested in what they do and offer. You can check the video below and see how they deeply feel and dance with their instruments. Even if you are not into jazz, The Peripheral Vision could be a good starting point to explore more about jazz scene in Toronto. If you are curious about their live performance, you can find them at 80 Gladstone on September 27th 2014 for their CD release concert and you can also check our video out. If I were you, I wouldn’t miss that opportunity to feast my ears. You can find them at http://www.peripheralvisionmusic.com/